Anybody ever return a class ring?

[Scottowl]

I found a class ring from a local high school. I did not post a photo because I am going to try and find its owner.

I have the year, and some initials are engraved inside the band. I figured to first call the school to see if they would give me a list of names that match, and I could go from there.

I was wondering if anyone else had this experience, and how they went about tracking down the owner, I have read a few accounts on various forums, and hoped it would one day happen to me.

It finally did!

 

[Larry (IL)]

The school might be hesitant to give information but you can go to a local library and look at the schoolbook for that year.

 

[Nancy-IL]

BIG congratulations on your class ring find. What a joy! Yes, I've found a class ring that was lost for 36 years and returned it to the owner. PRICELESS!!!! I wouldn't go to the school. Go to the library. Find any info you can and start calling. Here's the link of when I found mine and returned it along with a picture or two. CLASS RING RETURNED[/sub] HH, Nancy

Quote from MDMax:

One Gallon of Gas to Drive to School - $4.25
One quality digging tool - $30.00
One Metal Detector with accessories - $900.00
Returning a Class Ring lost 36 years ago - PRICELESS

Some things in life have no price, for every thing else......

 

[srf2112]

Nice work Scottowl. Cupajo posted a story about doing that very thing about a week ago. "Molly bgot her ring back " is the title of the post, It's on the MXT or Whites Main forum. You might try to message him for info on how to get it returned, I applaud your effort in trying to return the ring. Not only will it make you feel very good but it will pay off for you later... believe me !
HH
Scott

 

[ufobbs]

OH yes indeed ,I have returned over 15 class rings to their owners.
You go to the library and ask for that schools year book, look at the initials in the ring, then match the initials to a name.
Then when you find the name ,you look in the phone book for that name . You might get the aunt or uncle of the rings owner
who will then put you in touch with the owner. There is no better feeling than seeing the smile on the face of the rings owner.
I had one jumping up and down in my kitchen ,she was thrilled to death after losing it 25 years ago.
Good luck and dont give up looking for the owner,its a great feeling to have... 72 yr.treasure hunter.

 

[desert]

If I may be of further help. If you are looking for someone and I assume you have the year, initials and school. You can check classmates,com. No, it's true not every one will be listed but most schools have some sort of school alumia. Most schools that I see have a class reunion committiee and i am sure if you e mail the committee president or other point of contact and explain the situation they will be more than happy to help. A search of google normally brings up allot of school info but you have to do research. Most schools have a web site and that maybe a good place to start.

Hey just trying to help
Desert

 

[desert]

Something else,

Just like we have here some classes and schools have their own chat forums. My particular school has a group on yahoo so you may check there as well. There are allot of ways to find someone and return a ring. Just be creative...lol

Again I hope I have been a little help.

 

[Scottowl]

This ring should be easy to return. I mentioned it to a co worker who I guessed may be about the same age as the rings owner, and he was a member of the same class. He brought his yearbook to work, and picked out two potential people. He is nearly certain he knows who it is, however.

All that's left for me to do is call the person, and ask if she lost something. I'm right there; just one more step(hopefully).

I think my co-worker got more fun out of this than I did!

 

[desert]

I think that would be really fun and rewarding to do.

 

[wojo113]

Great job!!

 

[bula]

The only one I have found is a girls ring, & I thought from a town 20 miles away. I went there & looked through the year books & found nothing, It did not have the name of the school on it only a letter. There are four other school's with the same letter in about a 100 mile radius & I have not been able to get any info from them yet but I am still trying.

 

[Scottowl]

This search had more twists than a bag of pretzels. I found a class ring. I learned a co worker was a member of the same class. He checked around, and was sure he found the owner.

He told me when he called her, he embarrassed himself. "She said she had a class ring, but didn't know where it was. The description she gave didn't match at all. I asked what her middle name was, and that initial didn't match either. Guess I should have asked that first!"

The same co worker networks on the web. He asked a classmate about the ring out of the blue, and it was hers. Another coincidence is we all work for the same company. This is turning out to be one for Ripley's Believe it or Not!

The upshot is we are meeting next Friday. I am working on the story for submission to the local paper. If they want it bad enough to pay me for it, that will be plenty of reward for me!

Then again, a story in the paper will probably just cause more people to pick up a detector until someone ruins it for everybody.

 

[Nancy-IL]

"reward"? From the paper? I would think just seeing a smile on the owners face while she's looking at "HER" ring would be the reward in itself. To me that would be priceless! As I've already been there and done that. That's what makes this hobby stand out to other people and rewards us to let us hunt on their private properties and so on and so on. Nancy

 

[Scottowl]

OF COURSE I DON 'T EXPECT A REWARD. I TALKED TO THE LADY ON THE PHONE, AND HEARD HER EXCITEMENT THAT HER RING WAS FOUND. THAT IS ALREADY REWARD ENOUGH FOR ME.

I WOULD NOT SOLICIT OR ACCEPT A REWARD FROM HER. I THOUGHT SOME PEOPLE MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN READING ABOUT IT IN THE NEWSPAPER.

 

[Nancy-IL]

You might want to re-read my post. I didn't say anything about you getting a "reward" from her.

If you wrote a story for the paper and NOT ask for a fee, they would be more apt to publish it and that could result in a few more private spots for you to detect and not to mention a good name for the hobby.

HH,
Nancy

 

[Scottowl]

Ma'am,

I re-read your post. It again struck me that you consider me beneath you that I would want any money for writing a story for a newspaper, the same reaction I got the first time I read it.

Metal detecting is one hobby for me. Writing is another. For an amateur writer to have a story published, and get a check for it, is a goal, such as a metal detector hobbyist finding a gold coin. I had wanted to find a returnable ring with my metal detector (one hobby), and write a paid story about its discovery and return (another hobby) for a while now. You take issue with it.

I have read many posts from you, showing off the old coins you have found. Would you donate all finds to a museum, in hopes other landowners would grant you permission to hunt, so you could also donate finds from their property to display?

All the clad coins I find have a name on them. I guess I should be returning them to the mint.

You fine folks on this forum get along just fine without me. If anyone else is offended by the pursuit of my hobby, please accept my apologies. I am still going to pursue them.

Just not here.

 

[Giant056]

I enjoy writing about my finds also here is one I wrote about to Whites Electronics back in 2007 http://whiteselectronics.com/component/story/title/best-year-detecting-yet.html plus I put a video on utube and I have recently gotten emails from utube and they want me to put ads by them now so I can possibly get some revenues which is neat. I have never returned a ring expecting anything in return but they always offer you something it seems. I figure what goes around comes around and it's held true for me.